One of the best things about my work day is the ease of the commute. I walk one block east to the Metra station and ride south to the terminus at Ogilvie Station, which takes about 20 minutes. Then I walk a few blocks east to City Hall. In the evening I usually doze on the way home, waking up just before Rogers Park (a skill I perfected in graduate school on the Red Line). With a few changes in technology my route is pretty much the same one used by commuters when the neighborhood began as an independent suburb in the 1870s. Back then the commercial development clustered around the station Ravenswood between Lunt and Greenleaf. The early frame homes were just far enough away from the tracks to avoid the noise and smoke. But despite the similarities there have been a number of changes in the experience of commuting.
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| Rogers Park Station At-Grade, looking Northeast. |
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This rail line began passenger service in 1854, when it was extended to Waukegan. By 1869 there were seven trains each way daily. But because the tracks were at-grade crossings were dangerous and frequently interrupted city traffic. In 1896 work began to elevate the tracks in compliance with a Chicago ordinance. (The information above is taken from the
Metra website, which has some history on each of their lines.)
Photos of the station show that it was elevated after 1905. This wasn't a moment too soon according to these Chicago Tribune articles (accessed through the Chicago Public Library):
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| At-Grade Station |
August 20, 1885 - Frank Zwiener apparently commits suicide between the Rogers Park and Calvary station. His lower limbs were found at some distance from the rest of his body.
December 15, 1887 - Charles Hemmings and his wife were struck and by the train while crossing the tracks in a heavy lumber wagon. Mr. Hemmings survived but his wife was killed. Their horses were also killed.
May 8, 1896 - Six occupants of a surrey hurled as far as 75 feet when stuck by the Milwaukee train at Touhy. No one was killed, miraculously.
January 23, 1897 - Arthur Steen injured at Rogers Park crossing by the Milwaukee train. His companion, Frederick Buhr, was uninjured although their wagon was destroyed.
June 11, 1903 - Patrick McLaughlin, a flagman for the railroad, loses his life trying to save 16 year old George Brackle, who was driving a laundry wagon across the tracks.
Anyway, I don't want to get too morbid. Let's just say that at-grade crossings could be hazardous. Pressure was brought to bear on the Chicago Northwestern Railway to expedite the elevation of the tracks at Rogers Park.
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| View looking southeast , c. 1913. Did I mention these were steam trains? |
By 1910 the tracks had been elevated, but what about the station? It wasn't unusual to reconstruct a train station at the new grade, but I believe the entire station was raised to align with the new track level. I'm basing this on the design of the building (as shown in historic photos in the collection of the
Rogers Park/West Ridge Historical Society) and the identical footprints found in the consecutive Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps. The combination of open bays and enclosed areas for ticket sales was common, and can still be seen in stations along the North Shore. In particular I'm thinking of the 1891
station in Glencoe, which has a slightly more elaborate massing but the same brick and stone trim combinations.
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| View from West of the Embankment Looking South |
Moving buildings in Chicago has a long tradition. In the 1850s and 1860s water and sewer lines were constructed under a new raised street system. Many buildings, large and small, were lifted and placed atop new foundations to align with the new street level. And commonly property owners would move old homes to the rear of their lot to allow construction of a new residence along the street. You can find this pattern in many of the older neighborhoods and the skilled labor to do this safely would have been readily available.
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| After Elevation with West Depot |
With the elevation of the tracks the railroad also built a depot on the west side of the line. It appears to have had a concrete foundation and a frame second floor. I'm not sure if this functioned as a storage building or a shelter. Or perhaps both. But the primary station remained on the east (inbound) which is still the case on the Union Pacific North line. Folks waiting to go downtown were always accorded the more elaborate facilities.
Note the access lane on the west side of the embankment. This was within the railroad right-of-way and provided easy pickup and loading for passengers and goods. This lane was later vacated by the railroad and sold off for condo development in the 1960s.
By the 1950s the commuter lines has become less profitable, perhaps because of decreasing density in the neighborhoods. In 1958 twenty-two stations were closed, both in Chicago and outlying areas. At this time
Edgewater (directly south) lost all three of their commuter stations. Based on dated photos provided by generous readers of the blog I can confirm that the Rogers Park Station existed at least until 1965, and it's demolition is estimated to have occurred in 1966 or 1967..
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| View looking North from Lunt down Ravenswood |
The current Rogers Park Metra stop has a small at-grade waiting room and open canopies on the narrow train platforms. Where the old station once stood there are a few awkward parking spaces. The hefty limestone foundation is still visible from Ravenswood.
This post is an adaptation of a project I put together for the "Property" exhibit at the
Rogers Park West Ridge Historical Society, curated by the
Roman Susan Artspace. Although that has a few more maps and some snarky comments... And there's still time to see the exhibit exhibit at the society's storefront at 7363 N. Greenview!.
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| My exhibit at the RP/WRHS "Property" |
